On morality and public opinion

I’ve read with some interest the recent news stories about the hacking of a website whose purpose was to enable married people to have affairs. I’m interested in the moral questions it raises.

First, I wonder why people who sign up to a site that encourages deceit, are so surprised when they are in turn are dealt with deceitfully?

And secondly, I’m curious about people’s reactions. Some apparently fear being blackmailed because they don’t want their activities made public. But if having affairs is as common as implied by these revelations, why it is still thought to be shameful?  However, it clearly is!

Here we see clearly the difference between knowing what is right, yet doing something felt to be wrong.

As a Christian I would like to think that people have some inherent sense of right and wrong, but I’m not sure whether this is actually the case.  Just a few decades ago having sexual relationships outside marriage was commonly thought to be wrong (though of course it still happened), and it was seen as wrong for a couple to live together outside of marriage (though it did sometimes happen), and to have a child outside of wedlock had serious consequences.  But in Western society nowadays these behaviours are all so commonplace that the Biblical view of sex belonging only within marriage is regarded as absurdly old fashioned and quaint, even among some Christians!

So, attitudes about morality can and do shift, sometimes quite quickly. [For example, redefining the question of gay marriage as an issue of ‘equality’ rather than an issue of ‘morality’, was a sleight of hand that changed public opinion remarkably quickly.]

So, where does morality come from? If it is just a matter of shifting public opinion, will there soon come a time where there will be no felt shame, no need for deceit and no risk of blackmail when one has an affair?

The Christian view is that morality is certainly not just a matter of public opinion - in fact it doesn’t come from people at all, but from God’s revelation; it is necessarily something defined beyond human beings. The most obvious example is the 10 Commandments in the Bible's Old Testament. These were not a moral code that Moses thought up, nor were they guidelines for good living offered by God to humankind in order to be helpful, but commandments about how people should live and the consequences laid down by God if they did not do so. (By the way, the 10th Commandment says “You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife”, Exodus 20 v17.)

But as most Western (supposedly ‘Christian’) societies have stopped believing in God, or at least in his authority, the resulting moral vacuum has been filled by 'public opinion’, which not only shifts but is different in different societies.

There is evident self-righteous hypocrisy when Western ‘morals’ are thought to be ‘right’ but another society’s ‘morals’ - for example that it is acceptable to marry girls at the age of 12 - are ‘obviously wrong’. Sorry, you cannot define your morality by public opinion and then condemn others who do what is considered normal amongst their public!

Either way, the Bible tells us clearly (e.g. Matt 10v26, Luke 12v2-3) that there will come a time when everything we have done - and even thought! - will be made public.  Although my name will not be on that particular list which has just become public, I do not gloat. There are plenty of other things that I would be ashamed of when they become public, were it not that Jesus’ already knows about them, and died so that I could be forgiven.

However, it hadn’t occurred to me before that the fulfilment of the Biblical prophecy that 'all will be made known' might come about through computer hacking! I suppose this is just a tiny foretaste of the judgement still to come.

The poor will always be with us

Some people are rich and others poor. It's the way of the world, and even Jesus said the poor will always be with us.

This story is mainly about a person called Jubilation. Such names were not so unusual in her country. She lived surrounded by her family and friends. Although she often found her work a struggle, she was used to it, and though her health was not always good, she didn't complain. Even when her husband had died, leaving her with the children, she trusted that God would provide.

Her favourite times were seeing friends, even better, being able to have some visitor come to her home. On these occasions she lavished her best on the honoured guest, and her smile beamed from her face - her eyes sparkling, and the warmth of her welcome was unmistakeable; and so was her faith in God. Her name, Jubilation, was well chosen indeed.

Looking after her own family was her priority of course. The youngest was only two, but the oldest now 18, and she gave them the best she could. But as there were 12 children in all, there was not a lot to go round - rice and beans was the usual fare. They were blessed to have such a mother, and she in turn, despite the challenges of parenthood, was blessed by them.

Meanwhile, far away lived another mother. Nancy's life was very different to Jubilation's, though her life also had its hardships, and as she flicked the channels on her TV she saw only bad news in the stock-market. She poured herself another drink, then checked her email again - nothing but junk mail. Why didn't her son write? He was something big in finance.

Yes, and when Christmas came round, Jubilation, having worked from before sunrise to after sunset in the fields all year, had been able to save up so she could afford meat for her family and her face beamed, basking in the glow of her 12 children squatting around her on the dirt floor in eager anticipation. Yes, she was indeed blessed, a loved child of God, and spreading her love to all around.

At the same time, Nancy was getting ready to go out to an expensive restaurant for her Christmas meal. It was better to be out in company, even if sitting at a table by oneself, than eating alone at home. The restaurant was a favourite of Nancy's and the manager there knew her well; he also knew what would happen - she'd drink more than was good for her, and eventually he would order a taxi to take her home. When she did get back to her penthouse apartment she checked her answerphone in the forlorn hope that her son had called. Nothing.

Yes, Jesus knew that the poor would always be with us, and sorrow filled his heart as he thought of Nancy - the poverty of her relationships, her values, her ambitions, her life. But he went where he'd been invited and joined the family on the mud floor as the honoured guest at Jubilation's meal and delighted in her thankful heart and her generosity, and in the richness of her smile, reflecting his own heart of love.

Why God made us human

It seems common amongst Christians to dislike and distrust our earthly nature, to see every earthly desire and need as an expression of 'the fall' (which was the rebellion of humankind against God, as described in the Bible in Genesis 3), and to assume that our goal is to overcome our sinful humanity.

And yet ... God created us human!

God made us frail people, created out of dust, who get hungry and need food, get tired and need rest, get lonely and need relationships, and as human beings our knowledge and understanding is limited. And this was before the fall. God created us human, and said his creation was "very good".

So, what happened after the fall? Well, amongst other things, we misused our God-given good desires, and became gluttonous, lazy, misused sex outside of marriage, and we thought we knew better than God. And so we decided that we didn’t want to be human; we thought we should be more than mere humans, we should be gods ourselves!

Consequently, people spend a lot of time and effort trying to prove that they are not human, that they can live 24/7, that they can keep going with some kind of 'pick-me-up', that they can exceed their human boundaries, that they 'know it all' and can 'do it all' and be 'super-human'. And many Christians join in, working 'tirelessly' yet getting exhausted, rushing around being busy, thinking we understand it all, and trying to be 'super-Christians'! And in this way we all fall for the Enemy's lie that we are not mere humans, we are surely something more…

We confuse ‘pressing on toward the goal’ (Phil 3v14) with thinking we should ignore tiredness, ignore rest, ignore our limits, pretend our small understanding is great knowledge and wisdom … in fact, ignore that we are human.

No, God made us human, and that was "very good". But why? So that we may live content within the God-given limitations that he created within us. For being human is not a sin. It is how God intended us to be - his creatures living in relation with our creator and dependent upon him for his love and every provision.

Salt and light

Jesus told his followers that they were to be salt and light in the world, meaning that they both preserved and made life 'tasty', and brought light into a dark world - not just for themselves but with their mere presence impacting the whole of society. Jesus also used a similar metaphor by describing Christians as ‘yeast’ in a batch of dough - where just a little yeast has a dramatic impact on the whole mixture, on the whole of society.

Oftentimes, Christians seem to feel that they are having very little impact on society, which appears to be becoming increasingly unsavoury and dark.

Moreover, the majority of the population, who appear uninterested in things of faith, sometimes see Christians and those of other religions as bringers of trouble and division, and feel that society would be better off without them!

But imagine what society would be like if there were no Christians and no Christian values. Actually, you don’t need to imagine, for there are just a few areas of the world where all Christians have been killed or driven out - and they are areas where unfettered evil and darkness reign, and life is most definitely unsavoury!

So, in the rest of the world where there are at least a scattering of Christians, be assured that their presence has a profound and good effect for all - and may they shine yet more brightly!

Signing our own death warrant

Today at church we baptised seven new Christians. One of them had been a Moslem.

When a Moslem becomes interested in Christianity, their family will do everything in their power to dissuade this interest. But when that person gets baptised as a Christian, their family know that the battle is lost, and in some cases will even seek to kill their relative for becoming a Christian. So, for a Moslem to choose to be baptised as a Christian can literally be to sign their own death warrant.

As Christians we can take baptism much too casually, for we know that, of itself, it does not make someone a Christian. For this young man there was nothing casual about it!

And, actually, nor should there be for any of us, as it signifies that we have put to death our ‘old life’, and risen to 'new life' in Jesus Christ.

Mistaking the real danger

Today the news headlines round much of the world proclaim: '147 killed at Kenyan university'. The dead were mostly students at a university in Garissa, Kenya. They died at the hands of gunmen who reportedly selected Christians to kill.

As I am a Christian and live on the campus of another university in Kenya, albeit many miles from Garissa, it is understandable that people who know me worry about my safety at times like this.

Such news reminds us - if we need reminding - of the dangers of the world in which we live.

Although such news is both shocking and tragic, I believe that we mistake where the greatest danger lies, fearing bullets and bombs, but being oblivious to the much greater dangers that affect our eternal destiny.

Do not get me wrong, I do not seek to die at the hands of any gunman, and will review again my already tight security. However, as I believe God called me to live and work here, I have no intention of moving to somewhere that might look more secure, if by so doing I am being disobedient to my God.

Today also happens to be Good Friday, the day on which Christians remember that Jesus was killed in the most gruesome manner possible, in order to take the punishment for the sin of mankind. But I look forward to two days’ time, when we will celebrate Easter - Jesus’ resurrection! - and so know that his promise of eternal life to all who will accept him as Lord is true.

It was Jesus who said, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10v28)

I am much more secure here, doing the work that God has given me to do, than living in some quiet corner of the world just minding my own business.

The profit motive

I watched a series on TV a while back about various influential economists and their differing theories.

Although they had very different ways of understanding economic systems, and disagreed with each other over many fundamentals, it struck me that the profit motive - both at an individual and corporate level - was taken for granted by all of them. But then, they were economists!

Our western economies rely on the same assumption. Businesses exist to make a profit, pay grades are structured so as to motivate the successful, and individuals aspire to raise their income and thus their spending power. (Even thieves and the corrupt share the motivation, but look for short-cuts for all the hard work that is normally involved.)

There is no denying that this profit motive has led businesses to innovate and increase their market share, to amazing advances in science and technology, and individuals to work hard to move up the ladder. In this way, the theory goes, civilisation advances, the human lot improves and the world goes round.

And so it does seem!

But, considering the centrality / ubiquity of the profit motive, as a Christian I find it surprising that it seems to be completely absent from the teaching and lifestyle of Jesus!

Ah, we may think, he lived and taught in a pre-industrial age, in a simple hand-to-mouth society; what could he know about the profit motive? Yet a closer reading indicates that he was indeed acutely aware of the profit motive - and he wanted nothing to do with it!

Jesus and the Bible speak very plainly against the love of money. For example:
"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matt 6v24)
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ “ (Hebrews 13:5)
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

(However, the Bible also makes clear that there is nothing wrong with money per se: we are to work to earn our living, we are to pay taxes, we are to have honest dealings in trade.)

But what is the ‘love of money’? It is precisely the profit motive - for without the love of money there is no motivation!

So, how does Jesus expect civilisation to advance and the world to go round, if we are not to be motivated by money?

He poses a clear choice: love God or love money. So the alternative is to love God - and love our neighbour as ourselves (Matt 22v39). If we were to choose to love God and our neighbour, that would motivate us to seek the good of others, for they are also God’s creation. Thus we are motivated to educate, to find new remedies for illness, to work to address poverty, to be good stewards of the world for the good of all people, and to share God’s love to all people. And in so doing it is reasonable to earn one’s living - for “the worker deserves his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:18.)

But would the world still go round, would civilisation advance? It would look different, for sure, but I believe it would!

In fact there would be less inequality, less pollution, less corruption, less meaningless ‘stuff', less waste, less destruction of the environment - for these are also the results of the profit motive. And there would be more time, better relationships and a greater sense of community, better care for the sick, the poor, and the disabled - for these are all cast aside by the profit motive.

But, for now, as most people assume the profit motive is an unquestioned good, those of us who disagree must live in such a way that demonstrates Jesus’ radical alternative. I think that this way of living is called ‘being in the world but not of it’.